Why do British say leftenant instead of lieutenant?
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the “left” protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
Are lieutenant and leftenant the same?
Wikitionary claims that leftenant is an archaic spelling of lieutenant. It’s an achaic spelling in English, but not in French. This spelling was to stick to the pronunciation, and not the opposite, as there is not “lefttenant” in old French.
Do Americans say lieutenant or leftenant?
Sooo….. we have two dialects, what appears to be a Marit]ime pronunciation, “lieutenant” and a nonMaritime form, “leftenant”. American English uses the Maritime form. That is also the form closer to the French pronunciation, whence we can presume the English word to have been borrowed — lieutenant [l’utnã].
How do American and British English differ from each other in their pronunciation?
British English and American sound noticeably different. The most obvious difference is the way the letter r is pronounced. In British English, when r comes after a vowel in the same syllable (as in car, hard, or market), the r is not pronounced. In American English the r is pronounced.
Does Canada use lieutenant or leftenant?
If you’re not up to speed with your old-colonial vernacular, here’s the deal: Canadian English dictates the word “lieutenant” be pronounced lefttenant, rather than lootenant.
What is a leftenant meaning?
(lo͞o-tĕn′ənt) 1. a. A commissioned rank in the US Navy or Coast Guard that is above lieutenant junior grade and below lieutenant commander.
Why does Ichabod Crane say leftenant?
So, when Ichabod Crane says leftenant instead of lieutenant, the simple answer is, it’s the British pronunciation.
What is a lieutenant British?
Lieutenant (UK: /lɛfˈtɛnənt/; Lt) is a junior officer rank in the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above second lieutenant and below captain and has a NATO ranking code of OF-1 and it is the senior subaltern rank. The rank is equivalent to that of a flying officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF).
Do British say leftenant?
From Latin then, lieutenant literally means “place holder” and the military lieutenant acts on behalf of—or in place of—their commanding officer. No one can really say why in the British Army the word is pronounced “left-tenant” but it’s notable that in the Royal Navy the pronunciation seems half way across the ocean.
How are British English and American English similar?
There only a handful of similarities between American English and British English. There is more of a difference than there are similarities. The UK practices formal speaking and dictation while the United States of America uses slang and informal English. Our spelling of the same words even differs from each other.
Is lieutenant a French word?
Etymology. The word lieutenant derives from French; the lieu meaning “place” as in a position (cf. in lieu of); and tenant meaning “holding” as in “holding a position”; thus a “lieutenant” is a placeholder for a superior, during their absence (compare the Latin locum tenens).